Colin has received just about every honour the game bestowed, including membership of the International Hall of Fame; the New Zealand Sporting Hall of Fame; New Zealand Rugby Monthly magazine New Zealand Player of the Century and in the New Year Honours list of 2001 he was made a New Zealand Companion of Merit.

In July 2009 Colin was honoured with the title “Sir” when the incoming Government reinstated titles for people made distinguished companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit since 2000.

Colin grew up on the family farm near Te Kuiti and at 19yrs played the first of his 139 matches for King Country. In his debut against Counties he showed he was an extraordinary player when as a lock he dropped a goal. He was nicknamed “Pinetree” given his towering presence as one of the best and most inspiring players NZ rugby has known in any position.

Throughout the 1960s, he personified the NZ style of the game - rugged and uncompromising, he quickly became a genuine folk hero. A farming product of backblocks New Zealand, Colin epitomised the nation and the rugby of his era. Although he was no bigger than many of his contemporaries at about 1.92m and around 100kg, he always gave the impression of being a giant and he complemented his natural athleticism with a rare ferocity.

From 1957 onwards Colin was pretty much an automatic All Black selection.  He had an outstanding tour of South Africa in 1960 and in 1963-64 Colin was one of the stars of the formidable pack on the tour of Britain and France. He and other champion forwards such as Kel Tremain and Ken Gray were the basis of the side claiming series wins in 1965 and 1966 over the Springboks & Lions and then on another successful British tour in 1967.

Colin was vice captain of the All Blacks 1970 tour of South Africa but his arm was broken early in the tour  and in 1971 he led an inexperienced All Black team to a narrow series loss to the Lions.  Near the end of 1971 he injured his back in a car accident .

Of the 361 first class matches in which Colin played from 1955 to 1973, 133 (including 55 tests) were for the All Blacks. He was the first to reach a half century of tests – a colossal feat in his career. 

For the past 30 years Colin has been associated with the IHC. In that time he has been Chairman of the King Country Branch of IHC, and Chair of IHC’s National Fundraising Committee. He is now Patron of the Calf Scheme he helped set up for the organisation more than 20 years ago.

He has been much more than just a figurehead for a fundraiser that has seen over 75,000 calves donated to help New Zealanders with intellectual disabilities, generating a staggering total of more than $17 million for IHC’s work in rural communities around the country.

“The PGG Wrightson IHC Calf Scheme has been a great success, and it’s very encouraging to see how the rural community of New Zealand, and especially the dairy farmers, have got in behind the work of IHC,” says Colin Meads. After a lifetime in farming, Colin points to the IHC Calf Scheme as something that makes him very proud to have been a farmer and to be a New Zealander.